Portable centrifugal drier for small articles

ABSTRACT

An electric motor carries on its upright shaft a rigid perforated spinning cup and such motor is mounted on a stabilizing weight disk. A frustoconical housing is secured in spaced relationship to the edges of the stabilizing weight disk to provide an annular air passage. The housing top is open to provide an air intake and access to the spinning cup, and such housing includes a water collection trough below the cup bottom. The stabilizing weight disk rests on a plurality of resilient feet.

United States Patent 1 Norquist July 23, 1974 PORTABLE CENTRIFUGAL DRIER FOR SMALL ARTICLES [76] Inventor: Bernard W. Norquist, 13320 10th NE, Seattle, Wash. 98125 [22] Filed: Sept. 5, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 286,229

[52] US. Cl 34/58, 68/192, 210/360, 233/23 A [51] Int. Cl F26b 17/24 [58] Field of Search 34/8, 57, 58; 210/78, 210, 210/360, 394; 68/192; 233/1 C, 23 A,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 695,158 3/1902 Lafferty 233/23 A 2,488,087 11/1949 Kravitt v 34/88 3,199,216 8/1965 Broadwin 34/58 3,246,404 4/1966 OConnor.... 34/58 3,277,583 10/1966 Mack 34/58 3,358,381 12/1967 Sowa et al. 34/58 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 904,346 8/1962 Great Britain 34/58 866,355 4/1961 Great Britain 34/58 537,078 4/1955 Belgium 34/58 90,226 l/l959 Netherlands 34/58 825,990 12/1959 .Great Britain 34/58 Primary Examiner-John J. Camby Assistant Examiner-James C. Yeung Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Robert W. Beach; Ms. R. M. Van Winkle [5 7 ABSTRACT An electric motor carries on its upright shaft a rigid perforated spinning cup and such motor is mounted on a stabilizing weight disk. A frustoconical housing is secured in spaced relationship to the edges of the stabilizing weight disk to provide an annular air passage. The housing top is open to provide an air intake and access to the spinning cup, and such housing includes a water collection trough below the cup bottom. The stabilizing weight disk rests on a plurality of resilient feet.

3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PORTABLE CENTRIFUGAL DRIER FOR SMALL ARTICLES This invention relates to a portable centrifugal drier for quickly drying small, lightweight, clothing articles, such as womens hosiery.

While centrifugal drying is not new, such driers have not been portable or adapted for small articles, largely because of the difficulty in providing a machine which can be stabilized against dynamic forces without being fixed to a massive object as shown in US. Pat. No. 2,784,500.

Consequently, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide a centrifugal drier which can effectively dry small, unbalanced loads without excessive vibration or travel, while providing such a drier which is of a size and weight comparable to portable household appliances such as a blender, mixer or hair drier.

It is another important object to provide such a drier which will quickly and completely dry lightweight mesh articles without the aid of heat.

An additional object is to provide such a drier which is composed of inexpensive components and is easily assembled.

FIG. 1 is a vertical section through a centrifugal drier according to the present invention, parts being shown in elevation.

FIG. 2 is a top perspective of the present invention with parts broken away, and parts shown in exploded relationship. I

A substantially frustoconical housing 1 contains an electric motor 2 having a upright shaft 3 carrying a spinning cup 4. The spinning cup is mounted on the shaft by a setscrew 5 extending through a collar 6 projecting from the cup bottom. The cup may be molded of rigid plastic as a single piece, but is shown in the drawings as including a cylindrical wall 7 and a bottom disk 8 secured to the wall by a plurality of screws 9. The cup bottom and wall have a plurality of perforations 10 for passage of air and water or other fluid therethrough. A fan 11 may also be provided on the motor shaft 3 between the motor and the cup bottom- A flange 7 extending inwardly from the cup rim assures that articles placed in the cup or basket cannot slip over the rim during cup spinning.

The motor is carried on a stabilizing weight disk 12 by mounting bolts and cooperating lock nuts 13. Bores 14 in the plate rim receive screws 15, which extend through bores 16 in the lower housing margin and through spacers 17. Spacers 17 provide a segmented annular opening for flow of air between the balancing disk rim and the lower housing margin. The motor power cord can extend through such annular opening or through a bore in the housing wall. A push button 19 for motor swwtch 20 projects through a threaded sleeve 21 on the switch, which sleeve extends through housing bore 22 and is secured in place by a nut 23.

The housing top has an opening 24 of slightly larger diameter than the outside diameter of the spinning cup 4 to avoid interference with rotation of the cup while providing a guard against objects being dropped between the cup and housing. It is also prefereable that the rim of housing opening 24 and flange 7 of the cup be flush to simplify the housing configuration while enclosing the cup for safety during spinning. Inside the housing upright cylindrical wall 25 is connected by its found that the drier runs most efficiently, and dries most effectively, articles weighing up to 5 ounces when wet, if the drier is limited to a size and weight which are comparable to common portable household electric appliances. The motor 2 is preferably a two-pole shaded pole motor, since a motor of this type has relatively small size and weight characteristics while being capable of creating high spinning speeds without undue vibration. A four-pole motor has also been found to work reasonably well, although its speed and vibration characteristics are somewhat less desirable.

The stabilizing weight disk 12 has been found to be of critical importance in fabricating a portable drier which is both practical and safe. It has been found, after experimenting with different materials and sizes, that the stabilizing disk should have a diameter approximately twice that of the outside diameter of the spinning cup 4, and that such disk should be of relatively heavy metal, sheet steel which is a ferrous metal having been found to have the desired weight-to-size characteristics. The stabilizing member could be an annular ring since the effective stabilizing weight is that of the outer portion of the disk. Since it is also necessary to provide a mount for the motor and the components carried on its shaft, forming the stabilizing member as a disk 12 simplifies manufacture by providing one element to serve both the mounting and the stabilizing functions. Representative dimensions which have been found to be highly effective include a rigid plastic spinning cup of 4 h inch outside diameter and 2 inches height and an 8 inch diameter balancing disk of inch sheet steel, using a two pole motor..Such a unit would weigh under ll pounds and be of a size that is easy to transport manually from place to place.

In operation, a wet pair of hose can be placed in the spinning cup 4, and the motor switched on, whereupon the hose, by centrifugal force, will be pressed against the cup wall. Air and water will be forced through the perforations in the cup wall, and the pressure within the cup therefore will be substantially lower than the pressure above the housing. Consequently, the low cup pressure, the restricted cup opening and the high rotational speed create a highspeed airstream through the open cup and housing tops. The air will flow, together with any liquid entrained by it, radially outward through the cup wall perforations 10, downward past the motor and out through the annular passage created by spacers 17 between the lower portion of the housing wall and the stabilizing weight disk rim. Liquid which is not entrained by the airflow will impinge on the housing wall and by gravity run down the wall into collection trough 25, 26. Fan 11 will operate to increase the airflow. To further assure that the drier will not travel on the surface on which it is placed while its cup is spinning and loaded, and in order to absorb the noise of any residual vibration, a plurality of feet 29 bonded to the lower side of stabilizing disk are preferably made of nonskid, resilient, shock-absorbing, elastomeric material.

I claim:

1. A portable centrifugal drier comprising a motor 5 having an upright shaft, a perforated cup having a rim defining an upward opening, said cup being mounted on said motor shaft, metal disk stabilizing weight means rigidly connected to said motor and located adjacent to said motor and beneath said cup, such cup and disk having a common axis, said disk having a diameter approximately twice as great as the outside diameter of 

1. A portable centrifugal drier comprising a motor having an upright shaft, a perforated cup having a rim defining an upward opening, said cup being mounted on said motor shaft, metal disk stabilizing weight means rigidly connected to said motor and located adjacent to said motor and beneath said cup, such cup and disk having a common axis, said disk having a diameter approximately twice as great as the outside diameter of the cup, and a housing encircling said cup, motor and stabilizing weight means and including an upper portion closely encircling said cup rim and a lower portion encircling the stabilizing means but spaced therefrom for forming an air passage therebetween.
 2. The drier defined in claim 1, in which the metal disk stabilizing weight means is steel.
 3. The drier defined in claim 1, and resilient shock-absorbing, nonskid feet means supporting the balancing disk. 